This invention relates to a system for the purchasing or transferring of stored value or debit purchasing cards, which can be pre-arranged to be given as a gift to a designated recipient.
On many occasions, consumers, other bank customers, credit card holders, and other persons find it is desirable to arrange for another person, perhaps a relative, to have access to a specified sum of money. For example, a parent might want to arrange for a child to have access to money when the child is taking a trip or going away to college. One may also find it desirable to mail a gift to another person who is geographically distant. In these and other cases, it is often undesirable to give away or send cash. If lost or stolen, cash is practically unrecoverable. Traveler""s checks are also undesirable as they must be purchased at a bank and are not acceptable for many types of purchases. Gift certificates are also undesirable because they require the recipient to purchase from the merchant that issued the gift certificate. These and other drawbacks exist to the aforementioned alternatives.
An object of the invention is to overcome these and other drawbacks in existing purchase schemes.
Another object of the invention is to provide a method for issuing a purchase card comprising: presenting a purchaser with the opportunity to buy the purchase card, determining whether the purchaser has sufficient funds to pay for the purchase card, creating a purchase card account for a recipient designated by the purchaser; and issuing the purchase card.
A further object of the invention is to provide a purchase card where the recipient activates the purchase card.
A further object of the invention is to provide a purchase card where the purchase card account contains a monetary amount determined by the purchaser of the purchase card.
A further object of the invention is to provide a purchase card where money can be added to the balance of an issued purchase card account.
A further object of the invention is to provide a purchase card where the purchase card is activated when the issuer of the purchase card is notified that the recipient has received the purchase card.
A further object of the invention is to provide a purchase card where the issuer of the purchase card notifies the purchaser that the recipient has received the purchase card.
A further object of the invention is to provide a purchase card where the purchaser may designate with which merchants the purchase card may be used.
A further object of the invention is to provide a purchase card where the purchase card is activated for a predetermined period of time.
Another object is to provide a method for issuing a purchase card as a rebate award comprising: issuing a credit card to a cardholder, said credit card being associated with a sponsor, calculating a rebate amount based upon cardholder purchases made with said credit card, issuing a purchase card to a cardholder or to a recipient designated by said cardholder, said purchase card having a purchase value determined by said rebate amount.
A further object of the invention is to provide a purchase card where the recipient of the purchase card activates the card.
A further object of the invention is to provide a purchase card where the recipient activates the purchase card by notifying the issuer that the recipient has received the purchase card.
A further object of the invention is to provide a purchase card where the purchase card is activated for a predetermined period of time.
A further object of the invention is to provide a purchase card where the rebate is calculated based on all purchases made with the credit card.
A further object of the invention is to provide a purchase card where the rebate is calculated based on purchase from the sponsor made with the credit card.
A further object of the invention is to provide a purchase card where the sponsor notifies the issuer of the amount of rebate due a credit card holder, and the issuer creates a purchase card in that amount.
A further object of the invention is to provide a purchase card where the rebate is based on the monetary value of the purchases.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for converting a purchase card into a credit card comprising: creating a purchase card account for a recipient designated by the purchaser; issuing the purchase card; receiving a request from the recipient to covert the purchase card into a credit card; determining whether the recipient meets predetermined credit criteria to convert the purchase card into a credit card; creating a credit card account; and converting the purchase card into a credit card.
A further object of the invention is to provide a purchase card where the balance of the purchase card account is transferred to the credit card account.
A further object of the invention is to provide a purchase card where the credit card is immediately activated upon being converted from a purchase card.
Other objects and advantages exist for the present invention.